Los Angeles police are searching for Michael Jackson's personal physician today to question him after allegations that the star received a potentially fatal dose of the painkiller Demerol before his death.

News of the manhunt broke on the well-connected celebrity gossip website TMZ.com, which was the first to report the star's death, and came as an LA County coroner began an autopsy.

Earlier reports suggested that Jackson might have been given a large dose of the drug to help deal with pain after rehearsals for a series of 50 comeback concerts in London.

Los Angeles police spokeswoman Karen Rayner says that police had towed a BMW owned by one of the singer's doctors from Jackson’s house.

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She said: “We have not been able to interview the doctor yet. His car was impounded because it may contain medications or other evidence that may assist the coroner in determining the cause of death.”

Ms Rayner added that the doctor was not under criminal investigation but coroner’s investigators wanted to contact him.

Jackson, 50, collapsed at his rented mansion in the Holmby Hills area of the city yesterday afternoon. Paramedics were called to the house at 12.21pm local time to respond to a "50-year-old male" who was "not breathing at all".

He was rushed to the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, but doctors were unable to revive him and his death was confirmed at 2.26pm (10.26pm UK time).

Family members told TMZ that Jackson had received his daily shot of Demerol at 11.30am, but the dosage was "too much".

As thousands of shocked fans gathered outside the UCLA hospital, detectives from the LAPD's Robbery Homicide division conducted an initial search of his house at the behest of city police chief William Bratton before sealing it off as a crime scene.

Jackson's death had been confirmed by his brother Jermaine, who told reporters and TV crews at the hospital: "We believe he suffered a cardiac arrest at his home, however the cause of his death is unknown until the results of the autopsy are known."

He added: "The personal physician who was with him at the time attempted to resuscitate him."

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